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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday launched a new tirade against Israel amid growing tensions with the West, vowing to work to abolish the Jewish state and questioning the scale of the Holocaust. Ahmadinejad said Iran would work until "all of Palestine is liberated" from Israeli hands, in a speech to mark the Quds day, Iran's annual day of mass protest marches in solidarity with the Palestinians. Tens of thousands of Iranians turned out for the march in central Tehran, carrying anti-Zionist banners, chanting "Death to Israel" and burning Israeli and American flags. "The Palestinian people are standing firm. The...

Â-- President Ahmadinejad of Iran said yesterday that American political influence in Iraq is "collapsing rapidly" and said his government is ready to help fill any power vacuum. The hard-line leader also defended Prime Minister al-Maliki of Iraq, a fellow Shiite Muslim who has been harshly criticized by American politicians for his unsuccessful efforts to reconcile Iraq's Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds. "The political power of the occupiers is collapsing rapidly," Mr. Ahmadinejad said at a news conference, referring to American troops in Iraq. "Soon, we will see a huge power vacuum in the region. Of course, we are prepared to...

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accepted an invitation to visit neighbouring Iraq, Iran's foreign minister said on Sunday, a move that would be unlikely to be welcomed by the United States. Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki said Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had invited Ahmadinejad after Maliki visited Tehran on August 8-9, but added a final decision had yet to be taken. "When a definite decision about the trip is made, the timing will be announced to the public," Mottaki told reporters in the northeastern city of Mashhad, according to the ISNA news agency. With Shi'ite Muslims now...

TEHRAN (AFP) -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday embarks on a three-nation tour of Central Asia to attend a major regional summit meeting and bolster Iran's links with neighbouring states. The president will hold talks with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai in Kabul on Tuesday before leaving for Turkmenistan and then attending a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Kyrgyzstan. A source in the president's office said Ahmadinejad would be seeking to raise Iran's status at the SCO group -- which brings together Russia and China with other Central Asian states -- from observer to full member. "On...

Tehran : President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said here the Iranian nation will never yield to international pressure to stop its peaceful nuclear activities and give up its rights. President Ahmadinejad made the remark in an interview with Channel 2 of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) Wednesday. Iran's nuclear case is not limited to three options of timeout, further sanctions and military confrontation as considered by nuclear negotiators, he said. "Nuclear negotiators should seek a fourth solution, namely giving us our (nuclear) right," he added. He stated: "The three options are almost out of question ... Their call for...

Culled from a wide variety of sources, ranging from Agence France Presse (AFP), the French national news agency, to the London Daily Telegraph, to the Suddeutsche Zeitung Online, to France's Le Monde and Liberation, Mr. Ahmadinejad spells out the target and the strategy: "This regime [Israel] will one day disappear.... The Zionist regime is a rotten tree that will be blown away by one storm.... The countdown for the destruction of Israel has begun. Zionists are the personification of Satan. Mr. Ahmadinejad's strategic recipe: "We don't shy away from declaring Islam is ready to rule the world.... The wave of...

Iran's Renewed Threats to Take Over the Arab Gulf States - Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan Dahoah-Halevi - Vol. 7, No. 11 Jerusalem Issue BriefInstitute for Contemporary Affairsfounded jointly at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairswith the Wechsler Family Foundation Vol. 7, No. 11 20 July 2007 Iran's Renewed Threats to Take Over the Arab Gulf States Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan Dahoah-Halevi Recent Iranian implied threats to "liberate" some of the Gulf states, and an Iranian editorial calling Bahrain a district of Iran, have caused great consternation in the Gulf states. In Bahrain there have been demonstrations at the Iranian...

Fires apparent warning shot at Israel after meeting with Nasrallah in Damascus; Hizbullah leader reportedly enters Syria via tunnel. It's going to be a "hot" summer in the Middle East, said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad following a surprise meeting with Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah in Damascus on Thursday evening, Channel 10 reported. Nasrallah allegedly entered Syria via an underground tunnel, the television channel said. "We hope that the hot weather of this summer will coincide with similar victories for the region's peoples, and with consequent defeat for the region's enemies," Ahmadinejad added, in an apparent reference to Israel. During...

Ahmadinejad reminded Syrian president Bashar Assad that Tehran had spent almost a year on detailed preparations for a summer war and would not tolerate the Syrian ruler sabotaging this effort. Assad was reminded of his huge debt to the Islamic Republic. In the last few months alone, Iran put up hundreds of millions of dollars for Syria's arms purchases from Russia; Syria gets its oil gratis and raw materials and finished goods at subsidized prices. Assad replied that with all due respect and appreciation for his Iranian brother's assistance, he is obliged to look after his country's interests, while of...

"Iran and Syria are allies and shall remain allies," said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Syrian President Bashar Assad on Thursday in Damascus. Iran and Syria, said Ahmadinejad, "stand as a united front against the enemies of both countries and the enemies of the region." When asked if he thought war would break out next summer Ahmadinejad replied: "We hope the summer brings with it victory to the peoples of the region and defeat to their enemies." (Dudi Cohen)

Iranian intelligence operatives recently detained over a dozen squirrels found within the nation's borders, claiming the rodents were serving as spies for Western powers determined to undermine the Islamic Republic. "In recent weeks, intelligence operatives have arrested 14 squirrels within Iran's borders," state-sponsored news agency IRNA reported. "The squirrels were carrying spy gear of foreign agencies, and were stopped before they could act, thanks to the alertness of our intelligence services." Iranian police commander Esmaeil Ahmadi-Moqadam confirmed the report, saying that a number of squirrels had been caught bearing foreign spy gear within Iran's borders. "I heard of this but...

Iranian president accuses Jordan, Egypt of "helping Zionist regime oppress Palestinian people", urges them to "aim to placate the Lord" rather than "arrogant western world". Hamas representative in Tehran enlists parliament's support as members cry "death to Israel". According to the Iranian news agency IRNA, Ahmadinejad appealed to Jordan and Egypt to "stop this betrayal." The Iranian president sent out a warning to the western world, saying, "You must know that the peoples of the region have woken up and they will repay your betrayal with tight fists. "They will not allow the traitors to continue their work. The way...

UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. Security Council refused to approve a statement Friday that would condemn remarks about Israel's impending destruction attributed to Iran's hard-line president because of objections from Indonesia, council diplomats said. Qatar, the only Arab nation on the council, said it had no instructions, which also meant approval on Friday was impossible, the diplomats said. The statement must be approved by all 15 council members. France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, who called for condemnation of the remarks attributed to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said it was unfortunate that the council could not act immediately. But he...

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has said he was "shocked and dismayed" at recent comments by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about Israel. Iran's official news agency reported Mr Ahmadinejad saying that the world would soon see Israel's destruction. He said the war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006 showed for the first time Israel's weakness. The Iranian leader is a trenchant critic of Israel and has said the Holocaust of European Jewry is a myth.

TEHRAN: Iran, India and Pakistan are making progress in talks on a planned $7 billion gas pipeline and the United States will not derail the project, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday. "Fortunately the negotiations are making progress ... Principles have been agreed and we hope that in the current year we will be able to finalise the deal," Ahmadinejad said. Iranian officials have previously said they hoped to sign a final deal in Islamabad on June 30. "They (Americans) are after interfering in all the world's affairs and they consider themselves the owner of the world. But they will...

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday said the world would witness the destruction of Israel soon, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. Ahmadinejad said last summer's war between Israel and Hezbollah showed for the first time that the "hegemony of the occupier regime [Israel] had collapsed, and the Lebanese nation pushed the button to begin counting the days until the destruction of the Zionist regime," IRNA quoted him as saying. • Monitor the nuclear showdown in FOXNews.com's Iran Center. "God willing, in the near future we will witness the destruction of the corrupt occupier regime,"...

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday said the world would witness the destruction of Israel soon, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. Ahmadinejad said last summer's war between Israel and Hezbollah showed for the first time that the "hegemony of the occupier regime (Israel) had collapsed, and the Lebanese nation pushed the button to begin counting the days until the destruction of the Zionist regime," IRNA quoted him as saying. "God willing, in the near future we will witness the destruction of the corrupt occupier regime," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying during a speech...

ranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that "the countdown for the destruction of Israel" has begun, Iranian news agency Mehr reported on Sunday. "The countdown to the disappearance of this regime was started by Hizbullah fighters and with the help of all the Lebanese and Palestinian fighters we will witness the disappearance of this regime in the near future," he said. (Dudi Cohen)

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here on Friday that thanks God Almighty, the bullying powers can't do a damn thing against Iran. Addressing residents of Golpayegan, Isfahan province, on his 29th provincial tour at the head of a delegation, comprising his cabinet members, deputies and advisors, Ahmadinejad said that Iranians are living on faith, unity and wise guidelines of Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, thus, the powers can not bog them down. "If hundreds of bullying powers like you get together, the Iranian nation will not let you to violate their rights slightly," he underlined, adding, "The...

U.S. and Iran Talk After 27 Years It Will Be the First Public, One-On-One Meeting Since 1979 By JOHN HENDREN May 27, 2007 — When U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker sits down for a one-on-one meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Gazemi Ghomi, Monday  marking the first time in 27 years since both sides have talked  there's one thing everyone agrees on: It's going to be contentious. The Americans plan to start the historic two-hour meeting in Baghdad's Green Zone by laying down a list of grievances, saying Iran supports Shiite militias in their effort to consolidate power, and...